Can you 'game' on a laptop?

Number_25

Number_25

Number_25

Soldato
Joined
23 Dec 2010
Posts
3,483
Something that has pondered me for years, I've been told that there are such things as 'gaming laptops' but they are usually 3-4 years behind anything decent on the desktop computer market.


Have they now managed to create a laptop that can compete with a mid-high spec desktop computer?
 
have a look over at www.notebookcheck.net for all the gaming graphics benchmarks. but laptops do have a specific function, and this is not for gaming but primarily for portable computing. there are compromises, most people are happy to accept these for the benefits of the portability or gaming on the move. if performance is the priority then a laptop is the wrong direction, if portability is the priority then a desktop is the wrong option.

you would be able to game at full detail and hi res on one of the 1k MSI laptops in most, if not all games now. you could game quite happily on an i5 dell XPS L702 with an Nvidia GT550/555 in and this will play most of what you throw at it, namely due to the 1600x900 res. At a cost of £600-£800 this is a very reasonable and happy compromise.

the problem is cost really since you could build the equivalent desktop system for £300-£500 when compared to the Dell and MSI machines.

there are simply diminishing returns with a laptop where the more you spend, you don’t proportionally get a significantly quicker or better system. they are not so easy to upgrade either and seem to suffer from less reliability due to heat issues in a smaller space.

gaming laptops as desktop replacements will cost you £1500+ to realistically £3000 if you fully spec them out and, they may only last you 2 years depending on how games progress, especially if we end up with any Oblivion / Crisis system killer games.
 
Last edited:
You can ship in a 16F2 and build it up for around £850 with a GTX560M, with a little tweaking you can get it to beyond desktop GTX550Ti speeds.

I'd say you would need to spend around £600-650 to get a similar desktop.

So you are paying the extra for a machine you can take anywhere, hook up as a bluray player, is super power efficient and takes up less space.
 
Last edited:
i game quite happily on a HP ProBook 4320s with Ati 5470 in at 1368x768 res.

the newer the game, the lower the detail has to be but nothing is unplayable or looks sucky.

i am not a big gamer but if you are gaming on the move, battery life tends to be a bigger limiting factor than anything else.....I would much rather game at a lower res and get a couple of hours+ of gaming in

(cba to meme it but something like) [/purchase uber gaming laptop] wow wow wow 180fps in MW3 full detail 8xAA etc etc yar ya r yar /10 mins later ffs battery already dead :( and that is the truth of it.
 
My Acer 5553G for £500 plays games pretty well to my suprise. It has a Phenom II N930 and a 5470 with 4gb RAM, and can play most games on low/med with very reasonable framerates.

The Dell outlet seems to have a lot better offers, I would check there if you want a gaming laptop.
 
mrk1@1 said:
i game quite happily on a HP ProBook 4320s with Ati 5470 in at 1368x768 res.

the newer the game, the lower the detail has to be but nothing is unplayable or looks sucky.

i am not a big gamer but if you are gaming on the move, battery life tends to be a bigger limiting factor than anything else.....I would much rather game at a lower res and get a couple of hours+ of gaming in

(cba to meme it but something like) [/purchase uber gaming laptop] wow wow wow 180fps in MW3 full detail 8xAA etc etc yar ya r yar /10 mins later ffs battery already dead :( and that is the truth of it.
Click to expand...

You've invented a new screen resolution :confused: :p
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom